Shadowing in Healthcare

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Shadowing in Healthcare

• Columbus Community Hospital

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To prepare for Shadowing, you need to know

• Information about what shadowing is and how to
  prepare for your shadow experience
• About Confidentiality and HIPAA
• Information about the hospital including our
  Mission, Vision and Values
• Safety information
• Who to contact if you have questions

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Shadowing in Healthcare

• Job shadowing can open a window into the
  wonderful world that healthcare offers. Did you
  know?
• One in 6 jobs created in the United States is in
  healthcare.
• The lowest rates of unemployment can be found in
  healthcare.

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Shadowing in Healthcare

• Shadowing is typically an appointment that has
  been arranged for you to observe or shadow a
  healthcare professional as they perform their
  duties.
• Shadowing can occur for a few hours or several
  days depending on the nature of the occupation
  you are observing.
• Shadowing is available to students 16 years or
  older and who are in the 11th or 12th grades of
  High School.

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What you need to know

• It is a privilege to job shadow at any health
  care facility, clinic or hospital.
• This is a learning experience.
• You are expected to act in a professional manner
  at all times.
• You must agree to follow our policies involving
  patients and their privacy.
• Safety and patient protection are important
  considerations in a health care facility
• There will be strict policies and procedures that
  you will be expected to follow during your shadow
  experience

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Occupations and Departments at the Columbus
Community Hospital

• Dietitians
• Laboratory
• Nursing
• Acute Care
• Pharmacy
• Radiology
• Rehabilitation Services
• Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech
  Therapy
• Respiratory Therapy
• Social Workers

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I want to shadow now what do I do?

• Do the Research
• There are many good websites where you can find
  preliminary information on health care
  occupations including
• http//www.bls.gov/oco/home.htm
• http//www.cn-ahec.org/dependents/Careers/index.ph
  p

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Next

• Determine areas that sound interesting to you.
• Develop a list of questions
• Make the most of your time with the professional
  ask key questions such as,
• What other skills are needed in your job?
• What is a typical day like for you?
• What do you like most about your job?
• Why did you select this type of work?

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Apply

• You must complete and forward the following forms
  to the Educational Services Department to set up
  your shadowing appointment
• Job Shadow Application
• Agreement to follow Hospital Polices Including
  Confidentiality Polices (Note You must have
  this form signed by your parent or guardian if
  you are under 19 years of age)
• Goals and Learning Experiences
• Be clear and concise What do you hope to learn?
  When are you available? Please be aware that we
  get MANY requests for job shadowing and it may
  take 2 3 weeks to make your appointment.
• You must also print out and complete the
  Shadowing in Healthcare Competency

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Look the part

• While shadowing you must follow the hospitals
  dress code.
• Healthcare is a professional environment and you
  will need to dress appropriately.
• In addition to dress, always remember makeup,
  jewelry, perfume, etc.
• Everything in moderation.

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Dress the Part

• Flat comfortable closed-toed walking shoes are
  required.
• Clean tennis shoes are a good choice
• Dress slacks must be worn.
• Shorts or capris are unacceptable
• Collared Shirt or Sweater
• Polo shirts are a good choice

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Dress the part

• Not allowed
• blue jeans
• sandals or open-toed shoes
• strapless or spaghetti strap tops
• bare midriffs
• hip hugger pants
• Shorts or capris
• exposed undergarments
• nose, eyebrow, tongue, lip and body jewelry
• body tattoos must be covered

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About Confidentiality and HIPAA
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What is confidentiality?

• Confidentiality is keeping information secret and
  private.
• In healthcare, confidentiality goes a step
  further
• HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and
  Accountability Act.
• HIPAA is a federal privacy law that health
  professionals follow in order to keep a patients
  medical information confidential.
• HIPAA regulations affect each and every staff
  member at a hospital, clinic or facility
  providing care to patients.
• Volunteers and visitors are also affected.

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HIPAA also affects you!

• HIPAA These regulations apply to you, too.
• Realize that working at a health care facility is
  not like other places of work.
• It is crucial that a customers or patients
  information is kept confidential to maintain
  their trust and provide appropriate care.

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What exactly does this mean?

• This means the staff at any health care facility
  has a legal duty to protect a patients privacy.
• It is a patients right to be treated
  confidentially in a health care facility or by a
  healthcare professional.
• It is also very important that a patient knows
  that his/her privacy is protected.
• If patients feel that they can not trust us with
  their information, they may withhold important
  information for fear of it getting exposed

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Why is this so important?

• If a patient withholds this information, a doctor
  will not have all the information he or she may
  need to correctly diagnose the patient
• This might interfere with our ability to provide
  appropriate care for them

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During your shadowing experience

• You will be expected to keep confidential any and
  all information you learn about a patient
• There may be some situations that you may not
  participate in because a patient does not wish to
  have his/her care observed.

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• DO NOT discuss patient information with anyone.
• In order to understand better and to put it in
  perspective

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What if ?

• You found out that you had a sexually transmitted
  disease.
• How would you feel if your doctor told his son
  that went to your school, and the son told
  everyone at school?

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What if?

• Your best friend was diagnosed with a terminal
  illness.
• How would you feel if the doctor told his
  daughter that went to your school, and the
  daughter told everyone at school before this
  person told them?

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What if?

• You are a star athlete. The state championship
  is a day away and you were just injured.
• What would happen if someone at the hospital told
  the media that you werent playing and your team
  was now going to lose?

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Confidentiality is important

• That is why healthcare facilities have policies
  like HIPAA.
• Luckily, you now know that if YOU ever needed to
  be treated for something you would not like
  anyone to know about, the people that treat you
  are legally required to protect that information
• They would not share that information with
  anyone, not even their family members.

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This policy applies to everyone!

• Everyone who works at a healthcare facility knows
  the importance of the confidentiality of
  patients.
• Even the staff workers who do not regularly
  interact with patients understand that if they do
  obtain information for whatever reason, it is to
  be kept confidential.

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"It is sometimes difficult to..."

• understand that you may learn information that
  you can not even tell your mom, dad, or best
  friend.
• But, it is extremely important that you
  understand and comply with this policy in order
  to be a part of any shadowing program.

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Here are some possible situations that you could
encounter while shadowing in healthcare.
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• A girl that you went to junior high with is in
  the maternity ward because she just had a baby.
• You see a classmates mother who is being
  hospitalized and treated for depression.

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• You see the daughter of a teacher at your school
  getting help for problems with an eating
  disorder.
• You see Tom Osborne walking down the hall in a
  hospital gown.

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• You see a friend from church that looks really
  sick, and think that it would be nice to tell the
  minister at church to visit him during his
  hospitalization.
• You see a neighbor that is hospitalized because
  he is getting a liver transplant.

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Any of these situations could very likely happen

• Even though it may be very tempting to tell
  someone else who may know the patient about what
  you saw, you can not share or talk about this
  information with anyone
• (other than the person you are shadowing with at
  the hospital).

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"Even if you think that..."

• Even if you think that you may be helping by
  sharing a patients information with someone
  else,
• you still are not able to disclose any
  information.

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• Often times patients do not want anyone, even
  their own families, to know they are in the
  hospital.
• Always remember
• It is a patients right to receive treatment or
  care and that the visit be kept confidential
• You must keep a patients information
  confidential. There are no exceptions!

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• It is human nature to be curious and to want to
  share interesting information, but when dealing
  with patients information,
• There are no exceptions!

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• Even if you really trust your best friend, and
  you make your friend promise not to tell anyone,
  it is still violating the confidentiality of a
  patient.
• Who knows how many people your friend will tell
  after making other people promise not to tell?

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• Also, refrain from giving all the details about
  someone, and thinking that you are not breaking
  any rules because you withheld the persons name.
• It is not difficult to hear specific details
  about someone and figure out who they are.
• Someone could hear you talking and think,
• that sounds just like Bens mom.

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• DO NOT TALK ABOUT THE PATIENTS, THEIR INFORMATION
  OR SPECIFIC PROCEDURES AT ALL, AT ANYTIME.

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• If you have any questions about what is and what
  is not appropriate to share and talk about,
  please ask
• Healthcare practitioners and facilities want to
  make sure that you have the proper information to
  deal correctly with all the situations you will
  encounter

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There are Consequences!

• The healthcare facility where you are shadowing
  is required by law to keep a patients
  information confidential
• More importantly, as someone shadowing at that
  facility, YOU are required by law to keep a
  patients information confidential

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• There are serious consequences for violating a
  patients confidentiality.
• Consequences for violations can range anywhere
  from 100 in fines to jail time.

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Just remember

• Dont tell anyone who you saw while shadowing.
• Dont share patient information.
• Learn from your experience.
• Consider healthcare as a profession.
• Have a good time!

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Mission, Vision and Values
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• The Columbus Community Hospital has a proud
  history
• Serving the community since 1879
• Our Mission
• To Improve the Health of the Communities we Serve
• Our Vision
• To be the first choice in quality and service

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I C A R E

• The employees at the Columbus Community Hospital
  demonstrate their dedication to their community
  through
• Integrity
• Demonstrating honesty, dedication and reliability
• Commitment
• Behaviors show a positive attitude, dependability
  and using teamwork to achieve long term success
• Accountability
• Being responsible, trustworthy and committed to
  follow-through
• Respect
• Showing regard for dignity, confidentiality and
  the golden rule
• Excellence
• Maintaining high standards, continually striving
  to improve and committed to creating an
  environment of excellence

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Safety
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• In the event of an emergency or other unusual
  occurrence, the hospital has developed several
  code words to alert staff that a specific action
  or procedure must be implemented immediately
• The code words are simply referred to as CODES
  and are announced over the hospitals PA system.
• In the event a CODE is announced, the person that
  you are shadowing will direct you either to a
  safe place or direct you to take specific actions.

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Safety Codes

• During your shadow experience you might hear one
  of the following Codes announced over the PA
  system
• CODE BLUE
• STANDBY CODE BLUE
• CODE BLUE BROSLOW
• SECURITY TO . STAT
• PLAN 100
• DR SEARCH
• DR RED
• DR LOUISANA
• CODE PINK
• DR. WATCH
• TORNADO WARNING
• In this event, follow the specific instructions
  of the person that you are shadowing.

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• We are very excited to offer a job shadowing
  opportunity to you and hope we can help you on
  your journey to become a successful healthcare
  worker!
• If you have any questions, or need more
  information, please contact
• Reye Snitily, Educational Services Coordinator,
  PO Box 1800, Columbus, Nebraska 68602-1800
• 402-562-3321
• rlsnitily_at_columbushosp.org
• Remember to complete and send the applications
  forms to the Education Services Department to
  initiate your Job Shadow Appointment request.
  Please remember that it may take two three
  weeks to process your request.